Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, the Earth’s largest, reached an unprecedented scale this April, recording the highest level since 2008.
Furthermore, the latest research conducted by World Wildlife Fund Brazil together with the local Centro da Vida Institute shows that 94% of the deforestation was illegal. They also commented that the lack of a clear and transparent policy towards this issue only makes deforestation more widespread.
Brazil’s incumbent President, Jair Bolsonaro, has earned a reputation for his reluctance to embrace environment protection. When taking office in 2019 he dubbed environmental non-profits as “cancer”. He subsequently met with harsh criticism over his position and during the US-led summit in April he promised to double the funding channeled to fight illegal deforestation and to curb the problem by 2030.
In the meantime, Brazilia’s lower house has passed a bill that aims to ease restrictions on environmental permits that deforestation in the Amazon. The bill, which has triggered resistance from environmental groups, is awaiting adoption by the Senate.
“If this dangerous bill passes in the Senate, it will show that the government is actively seeking to accelerate along its current path towards mass environmental destruction,” said Kiran Aziz, an investment analyst for KLP, Norway’s largest pension fund.
“The Amazon has become an open bar for land grabbers, illegal loggers, and miners. And several attempts are being made by the government and Congress to eliminate legal protection of forests, such as the amnesty for land grabbing and now the licensing bill,” said Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of Observatorio do Clima, a campaign group.
The government’s efforts to curb deforestation by deploying the army in the rainforest resulted in millions of dollars of fines and the seizure of about 500,000 cubic meters of illegally cut wood but failed to stop continuing deforestation.
“The troops did the best they could,” said Ricardo Salles, Brazil’s environment minister but experts point out that the army does not have the appropriate knowledge and is not adequately prepared to halt illegal logging.
Whilst the political debates rumble on, extensive deforestation continues in the most important green ecosystem on Earth which is home to half of the world’s rainforest. This significantly diminishes the ability of the Amazon forest to absorb carbon dioxide thus boosting global warming.
Research published in the journal Nature Climate Change shows that humanity can no longer rely on the Amazon to absorb the carbon dioxide produced by mankind as the destruction of rainforest makes it unable to do so. Over the past decade, Amazon rainforests, which are more effective at absorbing and storing carbon dioxide than other plants, released 20% more carbon dioxide than they absorbed.
